


Chance Encounter

by mdelpin, Oryu404



Series: Fairy Tail Dads AU [25]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Family Issues, M/M, Magnolia Dad's Club, Next Generation, Original Character(s), Reunions, ftdadsau, ftlgbtholidays2019, stingueweek2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,201
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21598126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mdelpin/pseuds/mdelpin, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oryu404/pseuds/Oryu404
Summary: Rogue had accepted his family wouldn't be a big part of his life. He was happy with the way things were, he had a husband and children he adored and a job he liked. Well, tolerated. When he accepted his latest assignment he never expected a chance encounter with the one person he sorely missed in his life.
Relationships: Gildarts Clive & Rogue Cheney, Macao Conbolt & Gildarts Clive, Rogue Cheney/Sting Eucliffe
Series: Fairy Tail Dads AU [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1555675
Comments: 2
Kudos: 28
Collections: Fairy Tail Dads AU, Fairy Tail LGBTales, Home for the Holidays 2019, Stingue Week 2019





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> We are super excited to finally introduce you to this world we have been building for a while now, and have really fallen in love with! We'll follow a number of couples and characters on a very different kind of battlefield: adult life, and most noteably parenthood!  
As this is also an entry for both Stingue week and ftlgbtales home for the holidays, we will first introduce you to the lovely, and slightly chaotic Eucliffe household. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy! ^^
> 
> \- Burrito and Mdelpin -
> 
> Want to talk with us about Fairy Tail, other animes, writing, or our stories? Click on the link to join our discord [The Unholy Trinity](https://discord.gg/HTnthVNZ3V)!

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail Characters Belong to Hiro Mashima, Haku and Kuro Eucliffe belong to us

_May 2020_

Rogue closed his eyes for what felt like only a moment, only to be pulled out of sleep by the soft whining noises of an infant. A short silence fell, and he almost got his hopes up that it was simply sleep talk, but of course, luck wasn’t on his side. 

The whining repeated louder and more desperate to be heard. When no response was given, it quickly turned into a piercing wail. The staticky video monitor that sat on his nightstand called for his attention, but he stubbornly refused to reach for it yet. Holding his breath, he willed his son to go back to sleep on his own, but instead, the cry was quickly joined by a second one, and Rogue could only groan in frustration. Both twins were up now, and he was still so tired. 

The last six months had been hell on his sleep schedule. He and Sting had been happily surprised when they’d heard from Minerva that they were going to have twins. In their excitement, however, they’d failed to consider how challenging that first year would be, especially with Sting just starting his first year of pediatric residency at the hospital. 

Rogue decided to let their sons cry for a bit and see if they were able to put themselves back to sleep, but after several minutes had passed with the cries only growing more desperate, he knew it wasn’t going to happen. Eyes still shut tightly, he willed his body to move but then felt the bed shift as Sting rolled onto his stomach with a groan, covering his head with a pillow before finally getting up to check on Haku and Kuro. 

Rogue smiled in appreciation and snuggled deeper into the covers, content in the knowledge that Sting was taking over. A few moments passed before he heard Sting’s sleepy voice come over the monitor. 

“What are you little monsters up to? It’s not even light out,” Sting’s voice sounded loud through the monitor, giving Rogue a rather good idea of where he was standing. 

The crying stopped instantly, replaced by curious coos as the boys recognized their father’s voice. 

“Do you need changing?” Sting asked, and as Rogue heard the creak of the floorboards, he knew Sting had picked Haku up out of his crib. 

“You have such a beautiful smile, Haku,” Sting murmured gently, “Oof, but that diaper has got to go, looks like you were busy. Smells like it too.” 

Haku giggled as Sting changed his diaper, and Rogue felt his heart swell as he imagined Sting making funny faces at their son. He yawned and fought off the instinctual urge to get up and help. He reminded himself that he took care of them on his own every day, it was good to let Sting help out when he could. The sound of Kuro’s displeased wails at being kept waiting rang out. He heard the click of the changing table’s safety belt as Sting went to get Kuro. 

“You wait right here, Haku, I’ll be right back with your brother.” 

At first, Haku continued to coo happily until he realized Sting wasn’t there anymore then he began to wail as well. That decided it. Rogue reached out with his arm and turned the monitor off, muting the noise as much as possible. It wasn’t like Sting couldn’t handle it on his own. 

Rogue tried not to focus on the sounds so he could go back to sleep as soon as possible before it was time to get up and start another day. It didn’t take long before those sounds weren’t coming from the baby monitor anymore. They traveled through the walls until they reached the bedroom. The mattress dipped next to him, and Rogue felt a weight far too light to be Sting’s plop on the bed next to him, followed by another similar weight, before a third, more familiar one filled up the bed. 

When Rogue finally lifted his heavy eyelids, he stared right into a pair of wide-open eyes, their bright blue hue twinkling much too happily in the pale moonlight that slipped into the room through a gap between the curtains. A pacifier bobbed up and down rhythmically against chubby cheeks, and from behind it came a delighted hum. 

He probably would have melted at the sight if it wasn’t the middle of the night, and he didn’t suffer from exhaustion as much as he did. Besides, this little hellion and his nearly identical partner in crime, who was waving around his favorite stuffed red dragon, were not supposed to be here right now. 

“If you keep doing this, they’ll never get used to sleeping in their own room,” Rogue objected, even though the damage was already done, “and we’ll never get some decent sleep.” 

Tiny fingers found their way to his face, probing around and tugging at some strands of his hair as if determined to prove that last statement. Rogue gently grabbed them and warded them off before he could be assaulted in thoughtless enthusiasm. 

“They’re only six months old, babe, there’s plenty of time for them to get used to sleeping without us,” Sting countered, “The Magnolia Pediatrics Association recommends that babies sleep in their parents’ room for the first six to twelve months.” 

Rogue made a face, thinking of spending another six months sleeping with the twins between them, or in cribs next to their bed. It was convenient to not have to get out of the bedroom to do nighttime baby care, and he absolutely loved sleeping with a tiny warm body curled up in his arms. However, he was far less thrilled about being woken by the involuntary spasms of small fists or the feeling of the soggy end of a suckled on plushie in his face. 

“We have to start trying at some point. You have twelve-hour shifts, and neither one of us is getting any sleep,” Rogue argued half-heartedly. 

“Shh, go back to sleep, I’ve got them,” Sting leaned over to give Rogue a soft kiss, changing the subject before it could turn into an argument. And as the babies shifted away from him and began to climb on his husband with joyous shrieks, Rogue did just that. 

When he woke up again, the other side of the bed was empty, but he could smell the reviving scent of freshly brewed coffee as it wafted into his room. 

The alarm clock displayed a time that made him want to hide under the warmth of the covers for a few more hours, but he got up anyway. Sting didn’t have much time left before he had to head out, and the familiar urge to use the bathroom made sure he didn’t stall any longer. 

Still sleepy, he yawned and rubbed away at the sandy feeling in his eyes as he trudged into the dining room. The twins were in their high chairs, Kuro intensely focused on drinking from the bottle he was holding up all by himself, while Haku seemed to have given up on that and was diligently trying to pick up cheerios from the tray. Some of them had already landed on the floor, but they were easy to clean up. It was a simple way to keep the little one busy for a while, so Rogue didn’t mind in the slightest. 

“Morning,” Sting greeted, cheerful as ever no matter the ungodly hour. He kissed Rogue’s cheek and placed a big mug of coffee, along with a bowl of cereal and milk on the table in front of him. “Right on time for breakfast!” 

Rogue sat down next to Haku, already foreseeing what would happen once he ran out of cheerios, and blew some steam off his coffee. He took a tentative first sip to gauge the temperature and then a bigger one when he made sure it was safe. 

“Thanks,” he smiled into the mug, “did you ever get back to sleep?” 

“Nah, but that’s okay. I got some quality cuddling time with the monsters instead. They’ll probably be asleep by the time I get back tonight, so it’s a sacrifice I was willing to make.” Sting took a seat next to him with his own breakfast, placing a hand on his thigh and his head on Rogue’s shoulder, “I didn’t get to cuddle you though.” 

“Eat,” ordered Rogue, softly headbutting him, “you sacrificed sleep, you can’t skip breakfast too. I’ll still be up when you get back.” 

“Promise?” Sting grinned at him, his eyes alight with mischief as he moved his hand a little higher up Rogue’s thigh before squeezing firmly and settling to eat his breakfast. 

Rogue rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the smile that teased his lips as he thought about the possibility of spending some alone time with Sting. He peered over at the boys, whose faces were already covered in a combination of formula and mushed up Cheerios and then back at Sting, who was wolfing down his breakfast in a bid to have enough time for a shower before work and sighed happily. This might very well be the most perfect moment he could recall in quite a while. 

But as often happened, it was over before he had a chance to really enjoy it. Sting looked down at his watch and jumped out of his chair. 

“Shit! Gotta jump in the shower, new rotation today, can’t afford to be late!” 

Rogue tried to remember which rotation Sting was going to be working on now as he stood up from his chair but couldn’t remember. He hoped it was one of the good ones, knowing Sting had been itching to have more interaction with patients. 

Haku and Kuro began to show signs of restlessness, so Rogue hurried his cleaning efforts, collecting all the dirty dishes and putting them in the sink for later. Grabbing a washcloth, he cleaned the twins’ faces quickly, taking them out of their high chairs and placing them on their tummies on the living room floor. 

“Alexa, play children’s music,” Rogue cringed as the saccharin sweet sounds of _Wheels on the Bus_ began to play in the background, but Haku and Kuro both lifted their heads up in wonder as they tried to find the source of the music. 

Rogue hurried to get the basket of toys they kept next to their large sectional, reaching in to grab a large blanket with multiple items sewn to it. It was designed to stimulate and help develop an infant’s motor development, and it was Haku’s favorite toy at the moment. 

Kuro had been fascinated by his red dragon plush from the moment he’d received it from his Grandpa Weiss. He took it with him everywhere and put up a fuss if it was ever removed from his chubby hands. Not even Haku was allowed to take it from him. Haku had been gifted a similar blue dragon, but he hadn’t really cared much about it yet. 

Sting raced out of their bedroom, stopping only to kiss Rogue and tickle the boys’ sides gently before kissing the tops of their heads. 

“Be good for Daddy!” he chattered at them before grabbing his work bag and waving to Rogue, “See you tonight!” 

“Bye,” Rogue managed as the door closed loudly from Sting’s over-exuberant efforts. And just like that, Rogue’s day had begun. Looking down at his watch, he saw it was only five fifteen in the morning. 


	2. Chapter 2

Home for the Holidays 2019  
Prompt: Dress Up

Chapter 2 

Rogue stretched out Haku’s blanket on the living room floor and moved him onto it, smiling at the happy coos that immediately gurgled out of his son as he grabbed objects with both fists and began to pull. He continued rummaging through the toy basket until he found the blanket Kuro preferred, stretching it out next to the other one. He moved Kuro on to it and watched for a few minutes to make sure the boys were settled before heading into the kitchen to deal with the dirty dishes and sterilize the bottles for the next feeding. 

He settled in for a morning of play and cuddles, switching the music to lullabies about thirty minutes before their naptime. Once he’d changed their diapers, he put them down in their cribs and mentally prepared himself for the standard routine. 

He let them cry on their own for a while and then came back for a few comforting words and touches, to pop a pacifier back in or help Kuro retrieve his beloved dragon, and then he left and let them settle again. He had to repeat this ritual a couple of times, but the boys quickly grew tired, and when they finally started to drift off, he waited for a few minutes to make sure they were asleep, and the monitor was on. He backed out quietly and closed the door behind him. 

If he were lucky, he’d have about two hours to take a shower, check his email, and maybe get some research done for his book. Rogue hurried into his bedroom, taking off his sleep clothes as he went and throwing them into their overflowing hamper before grabbing the monitor base and walking into their bathroom. 

Rogue turned on the water in their shower, waiting for it to warm up as he moved over to the sink, placing the monitor on the counter. He looked in the mirror, frowning at the ever-present bags under his eyes before brushing his teeth. 

Getting into the shower and closing his eyes, he enjoyed the feel of the hot water on his skin for a few blessed minutes before reaching out for the shampoo bottle and lathering his hair. Right as he began to rinse, he heard a dreaded ringtone. 

_Cool, Cool, Cool… Cool, Cool, Cool…_

Damn it, of course his editor would call while he was in the shower! It stopped ringing while he was debating whether to get out or not. Whatever, he’d call him back later. 

Rogue put conditioner in his hair and grabbed the body wash and bath sponge from the shower caddy, every moment spent under the hot water loosening muscles he hadn’t even realized were tense. A simple shower was something he used to take for granted before they had the twins. Now it was one of his favorite parts of the day, some quality alone time that was scarce between all his responsibilities. The soothing hot water, the calming scent of the body wash Sting had bought him as a gift, and the peace and quiet of nothing but the sound of running water… 

_Cool, Cool, Cool… Cool, Cool, Cool…_

For fuck’s sake, ten minutes. That’s all he asked for! He heard some static from the monitor and sighed, fuck my life. 

Rinsing himself off quickly, he grabbed a towel, wrapping it around his waist as he hurried towards the nightstand where he’d placed his phone on the charger the previous night. 

“What?!” Rogue grumbled, the sound of Jason chuckling irritating him more than the water that was dripping on the carpet. 

“Shower?” 

“If you know I’m taking a shower, why the fuck do you call me at this time?” 

“Cause you’re fun to rile up. Anyways, I’ve got a coool job for you, right up your alley.” 

Rogue found himself becoming curious, the subjects of the last few articles he’d gotten to work on had been far from anything that matched his interests. With his precious moment of relaxation already disrupted, he settled in to learn about the details. 

“Alright, let’s hear it then,” he sighed as he put on a bathrobe and yanked the towel off his waist to dry off his hair with one hand. 

Rogue could hear the rustling of papers as Jason tried to find something on his cluttered desk. “A club for dads just started up at the community center a few weeks ago. Our readers eat up that special interest crap.” 

Rogue could only groan at the words, “Let me guess, I’m the only one you could sucker into this? Pass. I don’t want to go hang out with a bunch of middle-aged men who sit around drinking and competing about who’s kid is better.” 

“Who said anything about that? From the little I got from talking to the guy running it, who you will be interviewing in about three hours by the way, this is the real deal. Dads supporting dads. Sounds like something you could get into,” Jason said with his usual enthusiasm before adding almost sheepishly, “Besides, you’re the only dad we have on staff.” 

“Three hours? What am I supposed to do with the twins? I’ve told you before, you can’t schedule stuff for me like that.” 

“Take them along, the guy probably won’t mind. He’s a dad too, isn’t he?” 

“Unbelievable,” Rogue was not at all happy with how this conversation was turning out, their entire day was going to be disrupted. “Are you sure there aren’t any other assignments I could do instead?” He asked hopefully, dreading the idea of having to get all the gear ready, not to mention dragging his children to an interview. 

“Nope, this is all we’ve got available for this week, I’ll send you all the details in an email. You’re the best!” Jason hung up before Rogue could get a word out, which was probably for the best. 

Rogue looked at his watch with a frown, scratching his head as he tried to figure out how he was going to make everything work. He went into the bathroom to put away his wet towel and decided not to get dressed until right before they were ready to go knowing he’d probably end up covered in spit-up before long. He grabbed the monitor on his way out, peering into the screen to make sure both kids were still down before walking across the living room and into the spare bedroom he used as an office to grab his laptop. 

Moving back into the living room and sitting on the sofa, he scanned through his emails until he found the one he wanted. The interview was with a Macao Conbolt, and it was taking place at the Community Center, which was about a fifteen-minute walk from the house. Rogue had to admit it could be worse, at least it wasn’t raining. 

He opened up a browser window and entered Magnolia Dad’s Club, but all the results were from about ten years earlier or older. Next, he searched for Macao Conbolt. It looked like he was a chemistry teacher at the local high school. 

With nothing to really go on, Rogue tried to come up with some questions. 

~~~ 

It was just past 10am, meaning that nap time should be over any time now. On days like today, when Haku and Kuro had woken up a lot earlier than they were supposed to, Rogue just let them sleep until they woke up on their own, but thanks to Jason and his terrible last minute planning, he didn’t have that luxury right now. There were bottles to be fed, diapers to be changed, and all three of them still had to get dressed, and he only had about an hour and a half to get it all done. 

“One day, when that bastard has kids of his own, I’ll pay him back for this in tenfold,” Rogue muttered to himself while getting up and preparing the formula, “assuming someone would ever be willing to put up with him enough to have his children.” 

When he had both bottles at the ready, he headed to the nursery, where the boys were still sleeping peacefully. His chagrin faded away at the sight, they couldn’t get any cuter than when they were asleep. He hated having to rouse them awake, even though they never showed him any mercy, but there wasn’t anything he could do about it now. He just hoped they’d take it well enough and wouldn’t be fussy for the rest of the day. 

“Wake up sunshine,” he spoke softly, running a hand through Kuro’s soft black hair. The boy didn’t make a sound, didn’t move a muscle aside from breathing steadily, and Rogue felt a stab through his chest at the thought that he had to try harder with his waking up efforts. He tapped Kuro’s shoulder gently, but all he got was a frown and a sleepy moan, so he decided to just pick him up and move to his next victim. 

Haku wasn’t doing any better, he needed a lot of persuasion to wake up as well, but the displeased cries of his brother caused him to at least open his eyes and sit up before Rogue pulled him into his other arm and took them both to the living room. They were both crying loudly, so Rogue didn’t even try to put them in the highchairs this time. 

“Yes, I know, I’m tired too,” he whined along with them. He sat down on the couch, laying them down on pillows next to his legs so he could hold both bottles and feed the twins at the same time. He double checked the temperature of the formula and gave one of the bottles to Haku, who pushed it away and rubbed at his eyes. Meanwhile, Kuro’s cries were reduced to soft sobs and hiccups. He curled himself up against Rogue’s side and tried to go back to sleep. 

“Alexa, turn on Fire TV,” Rogue ordered, and as soon as the TV came to life, followed it up with, “Alexa, go to Baby TV channel,” cringing just as before as colorful cartoons he’d already seen too many times came on. At least it had the desired effect, both boys moving their heads towards the TV, mesmerized enough that he could nudge the nipples of the bottles between their lips, and much to his relief, they started drinking. 

Not getting dressed yet turned out to be a smart decision. After the feeding and burping, his bathrobe had several stains of drool and milk, either fresh or regurgitated, that would have otherwise ended up on his clothes. Bringing his kids to an interview was bad enough already without showing up looking like a walking burp rag. 

After another diaper change, Rogue strapped the twins into bouncers that he set in front of the TV, rushing to the kitchen to put the empty bottles in the sink. Even though he knew he was going to regret not cleaning them right away, he simply didn’t have the time to do it now. 

_ Fuck!_ He only had twenty minutes left. Running to the bedroom closet, he put on some clean underwear and socks, dropping the dirty robe on the floor where he stood. Without even bothering to check if it was his or Sting’s, Rogue pulled out the first pair of black jeans he found along with a button-up shirt, taking it with him as he raided the twins’ closet for four sets of clothes. He’d made the mistake of leaving the house without a change of clothes for the boys once, and he would never make it again. 

He ran- or more like slipped, with his socks on the laminate flooring- back through the dining and living rooms, dropping the pile of clothes on the armchair, before going to get the stroller out of the hallway closet. 

A few simple motions unfolded it and locked it into place so he could roll it out into the living room to put the babies in as soon as they were dressed. What he feared would happen, the reason why he still hadn’t put on his own clothes yet, happened the moment he lifted Haku out of the bouncer. A burp loud enough to rival that of a grown man came out, cut off halfway by an estimated half a bottle’s worth of milk that flew onto the rug. 

“... Alexa, add sanity to my shopping list, please?” 

_I’ve put sanity on your shopping list._

Haku sighed happily, and Rogue gave him a half-hearted smile as he tried to remove most of the stain with a baby wipe. 

“Yeah, I’m sure that must be a huge relief for you,” Rogue remarked while patting his back in case there was still more to come. 

Rogue grabbed some of the clothes and moved to the couch to get Haku dressed up, keeping an eye on Kuro in case he would start spitting up as well. He seemed fine, still watching cartoons with his dragon in a tight chokehold, frowning and grunting as his face was beginning to turn red. Rogue knew that face, and those sounds all too well. 

_Crap, he was going to be late. _

He dressed and changed the babies as fast as he could and put them in the dual seat stroller with the straps secured. Some toys were attached to the stroller with a chain of plastic loops so they wouldn’t get lost, and that kept them busy for a while so Rogue could finally get himself dressed. He stuffed the extra baby clothes into the diaper bag along with some other supplies, packing a bag of his own with a recorder, a notebook, and a pencil case filled with pens, his phone, and his wallet, and put both bags in the stroller’s baskets. 

The clock on the wall told him he should have left about five minutes ago, but he still had to put on his shoes and make his hair look somewhat presentable. A quick comb through was all he gave it before tying it up into a ponytail- a messy one, he had to admit, but he didn’t have the time nor the inclination to make it look any better. When he finally locked the door behind him, he was more than ten minutes late and tried not to think about the trail of mess he left throughout the house. 

He arrived at the community center a good thirty minutes late, cursing Jason’s name in his head as he sang the theme song to some kid’s show he barely remembered to keep the boys from crying. A man was standing outside the building, and he began walking towards him with a friendly smile. 

“Hi there, you Rogue Eucliffe?” 

“Yes, you must be Macao Conbolt?” Rogue pushed down on the brake on the baby stroller and extended his arm for a handshake, “I’m so sorry I’m late, we had a bit of an accident on our way out.” 

“It’s fine, I have a free period after lunch on Mondays, so no harm done. To tell the truth, I was a little surprised your magazine was interested in doing an article on us.” 

“My editor was very excited by the concept.” 

“Is that the cool cool cool guy?” Macao chuckled, and Rogue found himself liking the man right away. He looked to be in his forties, although he was still in decent shape, with short dark hair that was beginning to show signs of graying. His eyes, however, were his most noticeable trait, they were warm and welcoming. 

“Yes, that would be him.” 

“Twins, huh?” Macao looked into the stroller, smiling at Haku and Kuro, who were watching Macao uncertainly, “God, it’s hard to believe my kid was ever this small.” 

“How old?” Rogue asked politely. 

Macao’s smile grew even wider as he pulled his wallet from his back pocket, opening it up to show a picture of a handsome teen with eyes similar to his father. “Romeo is fifteen now. Time flies.” 

“I like having a physical picture,” he explained once he’d put his wallet away, “Shall we go inside?” 

When Rogue nodded, removing the brake from the stroller, Macao sped ahead, holding the doors open so Rogue could push the stroller into the building. 

“Get stuck watching them today?” Macao asked, looking mildly amused at Rogue’s struggle with the large stroller. 

“No, actually, I work from home, so I’m their prime caretaker.” 

“Oh, wow! I bet your wife must love that!” 

“Uhm, husband actually,” Rogue replied, trying to swallow the discomfort he always felt at this moment. He wasn’t ashamed of his lifestyle, never had been, he just hated the way people usually responded. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have assumed like that,” Macao was quick to apologize, and Rogue was happily surprised to see his demeanor had not changed at all, “_He_ must love it then.” 

“He does, a little too much actually,” Rogue agreed with a smile. 

“So, uhm, how do you want to do this? The last time I was interviewed was for my job, and it was a lifetime ago…” 

“Usually I have a list of questions prepared, but I’m going to be honest here, I was just told I was going to meet with you a few hours ago, and these hellions didn’t make it easy to get ready, so I guess we’ll both just have to sort of wing it. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about the club.” 

Rogue rummaged through his work bag, looking for the voice recorder he’d placed inside before he’d left the house. Once he found it, he checked the SD card slot to make sure there was a card inserted and turned it on. 

“Hmm, okay. Well let’s see, we meet here every Tuesday evening. The daycare center lets us use their space so that fathers can bring their children with them if they want to. We have some high schoolers available to watch the kids during the meetings, all certified in babysitting.” 

Rogue was listening to Macao’s words trying to think of some follow-up questions when it began. At first, it was just a whine which he was able to quiet with a quick toy grab from the baby bag. Macao had stopped talking, politely waiting for Rogue to finish tending to the kids, and Rogue was thankful that the man was so laid back. Once he was satisfied the kids were settled, he turned back to the subject of his interview. 

“That actually sounds really good, I know I’d be more likely to attend if there was childcare available, “Rogue prompted, wanting Macao to continue talking. 

“Yeah, it works out well, the students get community service hours, and the daycare center is set up to handle kids of all ages, so it’s great. The fathers seem to feel more comfortable as well since they can see their children and be readily available if something comes up. I’d show you the space, but it’s off-limits during business hours,” Macao looked down at the twins in the stroller, “I’m sure you understand.” 

“Yes, of course,” Rogue was about to say something when he noticed Haku’s face turning the same angry red as his brother’s had done earlier, and he frowned, hoping it was a false alarm but knowing it wasn’t. The horrid smell confirmed his fears, and when Haku began to cry in discomfort, Rogue sighed, already knowing what was coming next. 

“I don’t suppose there’s a changing area somewhere in this building?” Rogue asked, dreading the idea of having to change a diaper of that magnitude in the stroller. 

He peered at Macao hopefully, trying to ignore the fact that the man looked like he was about to burst into a fit of laughter at any moment. 

“All the men’s rooms in the building have one,” Macao walked them towards the nearest one and once again opened the door for Rogue. It was impossibly narrow though, there was no way the stroller was going to fit. 

Rogue looked from the stroller to the door, not sure of what to do as Haku’s screams were beginning to draw attention, and Kuro seemed to be about two seconds from joining in. 

“I can take the other one in if you’re okay with it, it’s been a while, but I’m pretty sure I remember the basics,” Macao grinned, cooing at Kuro who stared back at him with a curious expression. 

Rogue debated back and forth, he wasn’t really comfortable with strangers touching his children, but Haku’s wails decided him. “Thank you, can you just bring him in here?” 

“Sure,” Macao unstrapped Kuro from the stroller picking him up effortlessly and holding him up to his face so the baby could look at him easier before holding him in a more comfortable position and following Rogue into the bathroom. 

“I never really thought about how much more difficult having twins was,” Macao admitted, watching as Rogue tried to change Haku’s diaper while also giving Kuro some attention to make sure he remained calm in Macao’s arms. 

“I’d never taken care of a baby before these two, so yeah, it was a rude awakening.” 

“Well, you seem to be doing a great job!” Macao praised him, and Rogue couldn’t help the sadness the compliment gave him. He often wondered what his dad would think of him as a father, but his parents hadn’t even met the twins yet. 

“Thanks,” Rogue finished changing the almost unbelievably messy diaper, and they all left the bathroom, but when he tried to put the twins back in the stroller, neither one of them was having it, each screaming so loudly that everyone who walked past them turned to stare. Adding to his dismay, he could see Macao looking at his watch and remembered the man needed to return to his job soon. 

_Crap!_ Just as he’d expected, this whole experience had been a disaster. Stupid Jason. 

“I’m really sorry, but I need to get going, I have a class I need to teach in about twenty-five minutes,” Macao declared, trying to make himself heard over the twins, “Maybe you could come to the meeting tomorrow? Gildarts, the other man who is doing this with me, will be there too. We can answer all your questions then.” 

“You don’t happen to mean Gildarts Clive, do you?” Rogue asked, hoping there was another man with that name in Magnolia. 

“Yeah, you know him?” When Rogue didn’t respond right away, Macao tried to help him put the wiggling kids back into the stroller. 

They made their way back outside, Macao once again holding the door open for them, “I’m really sorry about this.” 

“No need to apologize, thank you for your time,” Rogue shook Macao’s hand briefly and watched as the teacher walked back towards the high school. 

Macao turned briefly, yelling out as he waved, “The meetings start around six, bring your husband too!” 

Rogue waved back and turned back towards home, hoping the terrors would calm down once they started moving. His mind already going to the name Macao had said. 

_Gildarts Clive, just my fucking luck._

They passed the hospital on their way home, and Rogue was tempted to go inside, even if it was just so Sting could see the twins for a minute. And...well, after all the stress today had already brought him, a hug and a sympathetic ear would be really nice right now. 

If he didn’t know for a fact that the coffee they served at the hospital had about the same flavor as you’d expect from a puddle of mud, he would have gotten a cup. But Sting was most likely busy at the moment, and the twins were still crying loudly in protest at being restrained in the stroller. The best thing to do right now was to just go home. 

He stopped for just a minute, gazing at the hospital entrance with longing before shaking his head and sending a text instead. 

_‘Is there any kind of poison that can’t be traced during an autopsy? Asking for a friend, who happens to want my boss dead as well. Love you.’_

Except he didn’t send it, deleting the words one by one, he replaced them with something that was less disconcerting. 

_‘Hope you’re having a good day, tonight can’t come soon enough for me.’_

Rogue sent the message and was about to put his phone away again and continue on his way home when he got an idea that improved his mood a little. His fingers raced across the touchscreen keyboard and added another message as fast as he could, aware of the twins’ growing impatience. 

_‘Also, takeout= fewer dishes= more time for other things. But that’s just a suggestion.’_

Satisfied with the thought that out of all the chores waiting for him back at home, cooking wasn't going to be one of them, he put his phone away and continued to push the stroller home. Finding both children asleep by the time he got there, he maneuvered the stroller into a shady spot of their backyard and sat on their bench swing to read a book from his phone. 

~~~ 

Rogue sat at their dining room table, looking at his voice recorder in dismay. Somehow he’d managed to not record a single word Macao had said, leaving him with absolutely zero to work with for his feature article. Not that there had been much to begin with. That meant he’d have that many more interactions with Gildarts, and he wasn’t sure how to feel about that. He was so focused on his thoughts that he never even heard Sting arrive, only felt his hands begin to knead his shoulders. 

“What happened today?” Sting asked, “I haven’t seen you look this tense in ages.” 

“Mhmm,” Rogue moaned appreciatively, enjoying the feel of Sting’s fingers on his aching shoulder blades, “Just a rough day, had to take the kids on a job.” 

“Jason?” 

Rogue nodded his head in agreement, not wanting Sting to stop what he was doing. 

“You know I can tell you about a few poisons no one will ever detect,” Rogue could almost hear Sting’s grin, and for a second, he worried he might have somehow sent the text earlier and then chuckled. Nope, Sting just knew him that well. 

“If only.” 

“Well, there’s no Jason here, just me and some takeout.” 

The kneading stopped, and Rogue whined in disappointment. He didn’t get much time to sulk, though, as two boxes of delicious smelling pizza and a bottle of wine were dropped on the table in front of him. 

“They were all out of sanity. Will this do?” 

It took a moment before Rogue remembered what he had said to Alexa that morning, in a fit of exasperation. Looking at Sting, who had already dived into one of the kitchen cabinets to get the glasses, Rogue suddenly had a hard time remembering what had made his day so rough in the first place. 

“You’re perfect,” he smiled, “though the pizza and the wine are a great help as well.” 

Sting returned from the kitchen bearing wine glasses, an opener, and some plastic plates. He set everything down on the table, and while he opened the bottle and poured the wine, Rogue went ahead and dished out some slices, trading Sting a glass for a plate. 

Sting began eating right away, making Rogue wonder if he’d skipped lunch again. Mouth full of food, he asked, “So what happened anyway?” 

“Jason sent me to the community center on an assignment, with no warning or time to prepare. It was… stressful, and I wasn’t even able to finish the interview.” Rogue complained, “Now, I have to attend a meeting tomorrow night.” 

“Huh, what kind of meeting?” 

“It’s a club for dads, I don’t really know much about it yet. I was supposed to get all the info I needed from that interview, but I was embarrassingly late, and then I had to spend half of what little time I had trying to minimize the ear-splitting sounds our kids produced. And to cap it all, Haku chose that moment to have a diaper explosion.” 

Sting almost choked on a bite of pizza, and if Rogue didn’t know any better, he’d think the coughing fit that followed was a result of discussing dirty diapers at the dinner table. The truth was, Sting just used it to cover up the fact that he was desperately trying not to laugh. He could hide his mouth behind his hand all he wanted, but his eyes betrayed him as per usual. 

“It wasn’t funny!” Rogue tried to resist, keeping his jaw locked to prevent the corners of his mouth from curling up. 

Wordlessly they found themselves in a competition of intense staredowns and making weird faces, and whatever it took to not be the first to burst out in laughter. Rogue came close to losing just from watching Sting try way too hard and forgetting to breathe. As a last resort, he crossed his eyes, delivering the final blow. Nevertheless, he didn’t have the resilience to control himself once Sting started laughing. 

They laughed and talked about their days, and all the annoyances just melted away as they fed each other pizza and drank their wine, finishing the bottle much more quickly than they probably should have. Sting took care of all the cleanup, and soon they were both lying on the sofa, some random movie playing on Netflix that was given no more than ten minutes of attention. One look was enough for patience to be lost and cuddling to turn into heated kissing as clothes were thrown to the floor one by one. 

Sting had already ditched his shirt, and Rogue was eager to get rid of his own as well, briefly interrupting their making out to make quick work of undoing the buttons and pulling his arms out of the sleeves. He blindly tossed it aside and went to descend upon Sting again but stopped when the latter lifted his head and observed him with a look of surprise. 

“You’re wearing my pants,” Sting remarked. 

Rogue looked down and saw that indeed, he was. It was at the bottom of his list of concerns at the moment. He felt heady with want, even more than he remembered feeling in a long time, and he blamed it on the decline in intimate moments between them. And he couldn’t deny the effect that half a bottle of wine had on him either. 

“Problem?” he asked, though it was obvious from the way Sting was running his hands up and down his legs in adoration that it wasn’t. 

“Huge problem. You look better in them than I do so I’m afraid they’re gonna have to come off,” and as his hands traveled up to fiddle with the button, he smirked and added, “but I like the idea that you’ve been dying to get into my pants since this morning.” 

“I wasn’t.” Rogue reached for the remote to turn off the TV, not wanting Alexa to be a part of this conversation. 

He couldn’t take the pants off in the position he was in, so while getting up, he used the interruption to pull Sting off the sofa with him and lead the way to the bedroom. 

“But I am now,” he admitted, “so less you being a smartass, more us making good use of the time we have left before the monsters wake up again.” 

And that they did, starting even before the bedroom door closed behind them. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Home for the Holidays 2019  
Prompt - Sharing

_May 12, 2020_

_5:20 pm_

It took a few adaptations to the usual schedule and extracting a promise from Sting to meet them there after work. Still, when Rogue arrived at the community center, both of his sons were fed, washed, and ready for bed, and the list of questions he had failed to prepare for yesterday’s interview was fully drafted on his phone. 

The voice recorder was charged and equipped with an SD-card that had plenty of available memory left. The diaper bag contained everything it should and then some, and on top of it all, they arrived more than half an hour before the meeting was supposed to start so he’d have enough time to re-do the interview. 

‘The things you can get done with good planning,’ he thought to himself as he wrestled the stroller through the entrance of the building. 

Young girls could be heard singing and giggling over upbeat pop tunes. The sounds immediately drew the attention of the twins, especially Kuro, who started fighting against the stroller’s straps so he could lean towards the direction the sounds were coming from. He was still too young to be able to point his fingers, but he made his demands very clear by reaching out and giving a loud, vocal instruction. 

“Buuhhh!” 

“Sorry Cupcake, I don’t think that’s meant for us,” Rogue responded before turning to the receptionist. “Good evening, I’m here for the Dad’s Club. Could you please tell me where I can find its meeting room?” 

The receptionist’s head snapped up at his voice. She looked frazzled, very much like someone who wasn’t having a good day, but just as she was about to speak, Haku made a noise that made her peer into the stroller. 

“Oh my goodness, aren’t they sweet?” The receptionist made silly faces at the twins as Rogue watched with mild amusement. She finally looked back up at Rogue, her lips curled into a friendly smile, a welcome change from her previous dour expression. 

“The Dad’s Club meetings are held in the daycare center, but that space is currently being used for rehearsals by a dance group. Unfortunately, the school holidays have led to the daycare center being double-booked, but the club meeting is still scheduled to take place as soon as possible.” 

“I see. Do Mr. Conbolt and Mr. Clive happen to be present already?” Rogue asked, feeling discomfort settle in the pit of his stomach at the name Clive alone, “I’m supposed to meet them ahead of the club, but maybe I got here a little too early.” 

Rogue startled as the doors of the community center suddenly slammed shut behind him. He looked into the stroller quickly to make sure the twins hadn’t been frightened, but it seemed as if they were still focused on the music coming from the daycare center. 

He turned around only to see Macao and Gildarts walking towards him, arms laden with several supermarket bags. 

“You bought too much food again,” Macao Conbolt complained, “What are we supposed to do with all this?” 

“Stop worrying so much, someone will eat them, it’s a bunch of guys right?” Gildarts shrugged off Macao’s displeasure, “Seriously, I could probably eat all this on my own.” 

They hadn’t seen Rogue yet, too intent on their bickering to notice anything around them. Soon they had reached the receptionist’s desk. 

“Is that why you were trying to buy the booze rather than the juice boxes I asked for?” Macao challenged, and Gildarts flashed him a careless grin while simultaneously grabbing a rose from one of the bags. 

“Running this club has aged you, Macao, you’ll never find a good woman this way,” Gildarts handed the rose over to the receptionist who could only gawk at it and then at Gildarts. A look that Rogue recognized well from hanging around the man when he was younger, “Wouldn’t you agree, Gladys?” 

“When did you even get a rose?” Macao looked inside the remaining bags presumably to check for any additional contraband. 

“A man is always ready,” Gildarts shrugged before once again, dazzling poor Gladys with his winning smile. 

Rogue found himself feeling sorry for the receptionist, Gildarts was unlike anyone else Rogue had ever met. He was big, loud, and brash, but he could also be incredibly charming and fun. 

Once, he’d been like an uncle to him. A rather annoying uncle that was always involving himself where he didn’t belong. Before he had much chance to think about the man, the receptionist ratted him out, probably to divert attention away from her. 

“Uhm, that man over there was asking for both of you,” Gladys helpfully pointed him out, and suddenly he wished the stroller were larger so he could just hide behind it. He wasn’t sure how Gildarts was going to react when he saw him, considering their last interaction hadn’t been a very pleasant one, and that made him awfully nervous. 

To his surprise, Gildarts regarded him with interest, observing him as well as his sons with keen eyes. Rogue’s unease began to mix with confusion, and an added layer of guilt to top it all off when he saw a familiar grin form on Gildarts’ face as if nothing had ever happened between them. 

“Never thought I’d see the day when the half-pint had a half-pint of his own, and two at that!” 

Before Rogue had a chance to protest the use of that most hated of nicknames, Gildarts had already put down the bags he was carrying and moved over to Rogue, surrounding him in one of his infamous bear hugs that Rogue had to admit he’d missed. He wrapped his arms around the larger man slowly, unsure of what was happening but not wanting to fight the affection he was receiving. 

They separated, and Gildarts peered into the stroller, “And who are these fine lads?” 

“Guys, we’re kind of blocking this area maybe we could move this reunion somewhere else until the room opens up? Gladys?” 

“Let me check,” Gladys looked at a map on her desk that was filled with dry erase marker entries, identifying the available spaces within the community center, “It looks like the small meeting room across from the daycare center is open.” 

“Wonderful, thank you, Gladys,” Macao began to move towards the room Gladys had indicated with Gildarts hurrying to grab his bags and follow along with Rogue, both remaining silent for the moment. 

There were so many things Rogue wanted to ask, none of them related to the Dad’s Club. A glance at his watch, however, made him realize those questions would have to wait, they’d wasted too much time already. 

The kids were being pleasantly agreeable for once, their eyes darting from place to place as they looked at all the new things. The building, which was used as a community space, was decorated in cheerful colors with murals painted by a local artist by the name of Reedus Jonah decorating many of the walls. 

They entered a small room containing a conference table that could seat six with enough room left over to comfortably place the stroller near the door so the kids could listen to the music. 

Once Rogue was sure the kids were settled, he took a seat at the head of the table with Gildarts and Macao sitting on either side of him. Rogue could feel Gildarts watching him but chose to ignore it, grabbing his recorder and briefly looking at his phone screen to review the questions he’d come up with. Placing the recorder on the table, he made sure to turn it on, waiting for the red LED to light up before asking his first question. 

“I guess I should start by asking what the club is, what purpose does it hope to serve?” 

Macao and Gildarts stared at each other briefly with Gildarts gesturing for Macao to answer. 

“Well. Makarov Dreyar and his friend Yaj Ima were both having some issues with their kids, and when they went looking for help, all they found were groups geared towards women. This was back in the eighties. They talked to some of their other friends and found that a lot of them were also frustrated by the lack of resources geared towards them, so they all got together and formed the first incarnation of the Magnolia Dad’s Club.” 

“The idea was to support each other through problems and provide help, however possible. For example, Gildarts here was a social worker so occasionally he would be asked questions on fostering, child visits, things like that. Everyone lent their skills and expertise to help others.” 

Gildarts had been a social worker? For as long as he could remember, Rogue had heard his father complain about the dangerous missions his friend went on for work. Gildarts’ daughter, Cana, would stay with them, forcing Gray and Rogue to share a room until he returned. Both Cana and his dad would be nervous wrecks until Gildarts booming voice could once again be heard. 

“Okay, so if I understand correctly, the club was founded in the eighties?” Rogue verified, “and you mentioned that was the first incarnation, so what happened to it?” 

“What happened was you all grew up, “ Gildarts remarked, “I’m surprised you don’t remember the club at all. You, Cana and Gray used to come to some of the meetings with us. We’d go get fast food after.” 

Now that Gildarts mentioned it, Rogue vaguely remembered something, but it was sort of hazy. He mostly recalled going to eat with their dads. That was always fun, especially when they were in a good mood and joking around together. 

“Makarov and Yaj were getting old, they’re in their seventies now, so when they announced their retirement and no one stepped up to replace them, the club just kind of died. That was about ten years ago,” Macao added, an almost wistful expression on his face. 

“So why start up again now after so much time had passed?” 

Macao and Gildarts remained quiet for a moment, and this time it was Macao who gestured towards Gildarts, letting him answer. 

“Well, Makarov reminded us that it was time for us to pay it forward, and he was right. It might be 2020, but the fact remains that for every one resource that exists for fathers out there, there are twenty for mothers,” Gildarts explained. 

“When I found out I had a daughter, I had nowhere to go to ask for help. I ended up at your doorstep with a crying little girl who had no idea who I was to her. Your father introduced me to this club, to other men like me who were just trying their best to be good dads, and it helped. It made me a better father and a better person overall.” 

“There are plenty of fathers out there who are lost, who knows maybe you’re one of them,” Gildarts gaze was intense as it fell on Rogue, “If I can help them out, don’t I have the responsibility to do so?” 

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say —” 

“My wife left us when my son was very young,” Macao interrupted, trying to defuse the sudden tension that had taken over the room, “I was really lost until I found an ad for the club in the Teacher’s Lounge of the high school I teach at. It took me a couple of weeks to admit to myself that I wasn’t okay and that I needed help, but once I did, these guys took me in. They helped me get through arguably the toughest time in my life. I’d like to do that for others.” 

“Yeah, I mean it’s not like Makarov fed us drinks until we agreed or something,” Gildarts scoffed while Macao glared, “That would be silly.” 

Rogue wasn’t sure what to make of that last statement. With Gildarts, it was hard to tell what was fact and what was fiction sometimes. 

“Okaaay, you mentioned yesterday there was babysitting, what other services do you provide?” Rogue tried to steer them back onto more neutral ground. 

As Macao opened his mouth to answer the door to the daycare center opened and he scrambled to grab the bags. Rogue noticed Gildarts sneak something into the bag nearest him with an impish grin. 

“I’ll go set up the snacks and get the coffee going before more people arrive,” Macao declared with his usual friendly smile, “I’ll be happy to answer any additional questions you might have after the meeting.” 

Rogue nodded at him and gave him a sour smile in return. Gildarts showed no sign of moving, looking pretty comfortable in his seat, so that meant he was stuck with him for now. Not even the twins were going to save him this time, they were both completely focused on their toys. No crying, no screaming, no attempted escapes or diaper explosions. Of course, that only happened when it was highly inconvenient. Great. 

“So-” Gildarts finally spoke up, drumming his fingers on the table, “Long time no see. How’ve you been doing? Looks like you’ve been busy.” He raised his eyebrows as he shot a quick but amused glance towards the twins. And while there weren’t many things that defined the word busy like caring for two very dependent, tiny humans did, knowing Gildarts that wasn’t what he was referring to. 

The repetitive tapping of Gildarts’ fingers on the wood grated on Rogue’s nerves. It sounded unnatural, like fingernails scratching against a chalkboard. His eyes were instantly drawn to the offending digits only to realize he’d somehow managed to forget that Gildarts’ left arm and leg had been replaced with prosthetic limbs. A souvenir from one of his missions that had gone horribly wrong. 

“I’m sorry,” Rogue ignored the comment, offering a long overdue apology instead, even as his eyes remained glued on Gildarts’ fingers. “I know you were just making sure I was okay back then, but I was just so angry for being left alone for so long. It—” 

“You don’t need to apologize for anything, Rogue,” Gildarts interrupted him, the use of his actual name a clear indication that he was serious for once. “I should have gone sooner, I let myself get caught up in my own shit and — nevermind. Point is we’re fine.” 

“I guess we both did,” Rogue thought aloud, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. He was glad that Gildarts had accepted his apology, but it didn’t make him feel any better about his actions. He’d been upset about being alone, but Gildarts had been dealing with his whole life being turned upside down. “You probably miss them too, huh?” 

“Every day, kid,” Gildarts winked, but there was an underlying sadness that Rogue could relate to. He reached out with this right hand and ruffled Rogue’s head, messing up his ponytail and changing the topic. “I like this new look you’ve got going, it suits you.” 

Rogue’s hands moved to his hair, gauging the damage before giving up and letting it down. He ran his fingers quickly through it, glaring as Gildarts began to chuckle at him. 

“You are so annoying!” Rogue blurted out loudly, making Gildarts laugh even harder. 

“There he is!” Gildarts exclaimed, his grin making him look younger than his fifty-five years, “I’m still me, you know. The prosthetics just make me harder to beat in a fight.” Gildarts pumped his fists in a pretend punching motion. 

“When the hell were you a social worker?” Rogue didn’t know why that question felt so important, but it was in stark contrast with everything he thought he knew about the man. 

“I’m insulted you didn’t know. I have a Master’s Degree in Social Work, but I enlisted in the Navy right after graduate school. Hmm, let’s see, that was right when I first found out about Cana. I did it for a few years, but I hated it. I got better results in the Navy.” 

He looked down at his watch, “We’d best get moving, You’ll probably get most of what you need for your article from the meeting itself. Plus,” Gildarts rubbed his hands together in glee, “I don’t want to miss Macao’s face when he finds my little surprise.” 

“What did you put in the bag?” 

Gildarts gave one of his goofy grins as he stood up, “You’ll see.” 

Rogue followed suit, collecting the recorder and slipping it into his pants pocket before walking over to the stroller and following Gildarts out. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Home for the Holidays 2019  
Prompt: Gatherings

_ 6:00 pm - 6:20 pm Snack/Social Time _

When Rogue and Gildarts entered the daycare center, several club attendees were already present, standing together and chatting around a table whose entire surface was covered in snacks and drinks. Rogue didn't pay much attention to them. Although he could go for a coffee, the twins were starting to squirm in their stroller seats. The change of surroundings had sparked their interest, which wasn't all that surprising since this room had been designed with young children in mind, and since they had been shackled for so long already, Rogue thought they deserved to be let out to play first. 

He parked the stroller in a corner where it wouldn't be in anyone's way, putting the brakes on and grabbing the diaper bag before unbuckling Haku. He wasn't spreading any unpleasant smells yet, still carrying that wonderful scent of fresh clothes and baby lotion, so he was approved to join the other kids in the play area. 

Two teenagers, a boy, and a girl were looking after the playing children, and Rogue guessed they were the ones providing the babysitting service that was mentioned. The boy seemed somewhat familiar. At first, Rogue couldn't remember where he'd met him, but as he studied his face a little bit more, it finally clicked. This had to be Macao's son, whose picture he had been shown yesterday. The girl, however, he was sure he had never seen before. 

"Good evening!" she greeted him with a sweet smile, "I'm Wendy, and what's this little angel's name?" She crouched down next to Haku as Rogue put him on the floor. 

"This is Haku, he's only six months old, so you need to be careful," Rogue recited, handing the diaper bag over and already feeling nervous at the idea of having someone else watch their sons.

"Don't you worry, Sir. Both Romeo and I have earned our babysitter's certificate. We even trained in infant CPR, Haku is going to be just fine!" Wendy, who seemed so very young to Rogue's eyes, smiled at him reassuringly, but all he heard was CPR.

“CPR, why would he need CPR?!”

“Oh dear, that was supposed to make you feel better,” Wendy’s eyes watered at Rogue’s distress.

“No, no. I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Rogue fought between his desire to grab Haku in his arms and wanting to boost the girl’s self-esteem, “Uhm, I’ll be right back with his brother.”

Rogue tried not to think of Sting’s reaction to that little fiasco, he’d never live it down. He grabbed Kuro out of the stroller, thankful there was enough activity to hold the infant’s attention. Kuro rewarded him with a gummy smile and a smack on the head from his red dragon.

He could hear an amused chuckle behind him, followed by Kuro becoming increasingly wiggly in his arms. Rogue turned to see Sting walking towards him, his work bag slung diagonally across his chest and a bright smile at the ready.

"Hey, babe!" Sting pulled him into a quick hug, being careful not to squish Kuro between them. 

Once they separated, Sting grabbed the ever more frantic Kuro in his arms, "Hey monster! Did you miss me? Where's your partner in crime?"

Kuro began to grunt, eagerly responding to the sound of his father's voice, and although Sting smiled at his efforts, his attention was immediately captured by the sight of food, "Is that food for everyone? I'm starving!"

Before Rogue had a chance to respond, Sting had already made his way over to the table, with Kuro still held in his arms. He began piling food onto a plate and grabbing a couple of juice boxes. To Rogue's utter dismay, Gildarts walked straight over to him.

“Heey, you must be  _ Mr. _ Half-Pint!" Gildarts exclaimed, slapping his hand enthusiastically on Sting's shoulder as he recognized Kuro.

“Who?” Sting mumbled through the food that had already made it into his mouth.

“Rogue’s husband?”

“Oh, yeah!” Sting agreed cheerfully, once he’d swallowed, “Sting Eucliffe, nice to meet you. And you are?”

“Gildarts Clive, at your service. I’m one of the men running this club. That’s an Edolas accent, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“I travel quite a bit in my line of work,” Gildarts replied, “I’ve been to Edolas a few times, beautiful country. Anyway, it was nice chatting with you, I need to introduce myself to a few others, seems we have a lot of new members tonight. Enjoy the snacks.”

Gildarts moved on to his next victim, and Rogue took the opportunity to grab Kuro from Sting. He took him over to Wendy, who had already set up a blanket and toys from the diaper bag for Haku to play with. For his part, Haku looked quite content. 

"This is the angel's twin, Kuro." Rogue sat him down next to his brother, his mind more at ease now that he'd seen how comfortable the children were around the two teens and the other way around. "Oh, a word of advice: make sure no one takes that dragon away from him. Trust me, he'll take tantrum to a whole new level." 

"That's good to know, we'll keep a close eye on it," Wendy reassured him. 

Rogue smiled at her, hoping to give off some friendlier vibes than he had earlier. Now that the kids were settled, it was time to get that coffee, but he hadn't made it to the snack table yet when one of the boys had started crying loudly already. He whirled back around, feeling both relieved and foolish when it just turned out to be Haku, who had noticed Sting and was calling for his attention. But Sting didn't respond to him at all, and if that wasn't strange enough already, both his posture and expression were alarmingly ambivalent. He was standing still in the middle of the room, snack plate in one hand and an open juice box just inches away from his face as if something had made him stop dead in his tracks. And when Rogue followed his line of vision he spotted Gildarts, talking to a silver-haired man, and…

Rogue could only be glad that he'd never grabbed that cup of coffee because if he had, he would inevitably have spilled it all over himself. He blinked several times, not trusting what his eyes were showing him. If it weren't for the fact that Sting was acting oddly, he would have gladly accepted that he was suffering from a rather intense visual hallucination caused by seeing Gildarts again after so long.

As fate would have it, that wasn’t the only unexpected reunion shaking him up today. After not having spoken to each other since their last disastrous phone conversation six years earlier, Rogue was now standing just a few feet away from his older brother. He was getting ready to stomp over, not caring about causing a scene as his escalating emotions took over, when Macao announced:

"Alright, everyone, find a seat. It's time to start the meeting, and there are a lot of new faces tonight."

It distracted him for a second. The chatter died down, and everyone present in the room began finding their way to one of the chairs that had been set up in a large circle, but Rogue felt a treacherous tremble rising in his entire body. A voice in his head compelled him to ignore all social niceties and march right up to his bastard of a brother and give him a piece of his mind. 

He was more than willing to heed it, but just as he was about to raise hell and disrupt the entire meeting, not to mention throw every last bit of professionalism out the window, Gildarts moved out of the way. And Rogue couldn't help but notice a timid looking boy standing in between his brother and the silver-haired man. Reality slammed into him like a truck as it quickly dawned on him that he had almost caused a scene in front of his children. Not to mention those of complete strangers and that little boy he had no trouble identifying as his own nephew, even though he hadn't been aware of his existence until a few seconds ago. 

Rogue peered into big midnight blue eyes, so familiar they brought him back to the past, to a very similar pair of eyes belonging to the one person he used to look up to like no other. His flared up anger and frustration simmered down, transforming into melancholia and more of what he’d already faced today.

Guilt and shame weighed him down once again, making him oblivious to the fact that he was the only one who wasn’t getting seated until Sting grabbed his arm and steered him to one of the empty chairs. Rogue had no choice but to sit down, feeling Sting’s hand grab his own and squeeze it, his concerned eyes burning into Rogue’s skin as he sat next to him.

“Are you okay?”

Rogue had no answer to that.   
  


_ 6:20 pm - 6:30 pm Introductions _

"Welcome to the Magnolia Dad's Club, my name is Macao Conbolt, and the man standing next to me is Gildarts Clive. We are the current runners of this club, so if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to come talk to us. Before we get started, I'd just like to let you know this club is for you and your family. Children are always welcome at meetings, but you can also come on your own." 

Macao grabbed a piece of paper from a stack and held it up, ”Here are some flyers that contain  more information on us and what we do so please feel free to help yourselves to one. Now, why don’t we get introductions started, who wants to go first?”

Rogue tried to listen to what was being said, the logical part of his brain reminding him he still needed more information for his article, but his mind refused to let things go.

When had Gray come home? Why hadn't he gotten in touch with him? He snuck a look to where his brother sat next to the silver-haired man and wondered who he was to his brother. Was this a friend, a new boyfriend? What had happened with his husband, and how old was his kid? Gray was staring at Gildarts with an expression Rogue couldn't identify until he realized Gray probably hadn't seen the man's prosthetics before.

One by one, different men stood up and introduced themselves, and Rogue heard not a word, waiting for the moment it would be his brother's turn, his mind still coming up with question after question until he felt Sting get up, pulling him up with him.

"Hi, I'm Sting Eucliffe, I'm a first-year pediatrics resident at the hospital, and this is my husband Rogue," Sting gestured toward him, and he waved weakly. "We are fathers to twin boys, Haku and Kuro, I'm sure you'll hear from them soon enough," Sting paused as several men chuckled at his joke. "I sort of got shanghaied here, but I have to admit I like what I've seen so far, and I look forward to being a part of it."

The twins began to cry at hearing Sting's voice, and he walked over to them, calling, "There they are," behind him to many laughs. He returned with both boys, handing Haku over for Rogue to take.

Rogue focused on making his son comfortable, and once he quieted, he looked up to see Gray watching them with a neutral expression. He looked away when he realized Rogue had noticed, speaking quietly to his companion and pulling the little boy onto his lap. 

“Hey, my name is Gray Fer- uhm Fullbuster,” his brother began speaking, discomfort oozing from every word.

Finally! The moment Rogue had been waiting for had arrived, it was Gray's turn to speak, and just as he began to introduce himself, Rogue felt movement next to him.

“Everything okay, Half-Pint?” Rogue was startled to find Gildarts kneeling next to him and whispering in his ear, distracting him.

"Yeah, everything's great," Rogue hissed, trying to hear what Gray was saying.

“What else did I miss the last couple of years?” Gildarts frowned, his eyebrows furrowing in

concern as he took in how tense Rogue was, “I can’t help but notice there’s something off here.” 

Rogue thought of what he could possibly say that Gildarts would accept and would let him get back to Gray's introduction, but to his dismay, his brother had already sat down. 

“I already said everything was fine,” Rogue snapped, angry he’d missed his chance to find out any information on his brother.

“Fine, sorry I asked,” Gildarts got up and handed Rogue a clipboard with a membership form, “Fill this out when you get a chance.”

Gildarts walked away, but for the rest of the introduction portion of the meeting, his gaze never strayed from either him or Gray, and Rogue was frustrated to see that the silver-haired man never introduced himself.

_ 6:30 pm - 6:40 pm Recap of the last meeting _

"Okay, we went over quite a bit, but that's alright," Macao glanced at his wristwatch before launching into a recap of the events of the last meeting.

Rogue whispered to Sting, “Did you get to hear anything?”

“Yeah, it looks like he’s going by Fullbuster again, and the little boy’s name is Aki. He’s about a year and a half.”

“That’s it?” Rogue couldn’t believe he’d gotten himself so worked up for so little information, but still, he now knew his nephew’s name. Aki.

"Sorry, babe, he didn't say anything else," Sting draped his arm over Rogue's shoulder, squeezing it briefly before pulling away.

“Warren has been gracious enough to volunteer to work on our website which he assures us will be done any day now,” Gildarts grinned at Warren who only groaned at the word volunteered, “and he’s also writing an app that we’ll be able to use for all scheduling and sign-ups.”

“Wait! When did I agree to that?” Warren complained.

“Sometime after your fourth beer, I think,” Macao reported to Warren’s horror.

“You guys were serious about that?!” Warren’s face paled as he realized how much work he’d signed up for, “My wife is gonna kill me!”

That sentiment earned a laugh from several of the men in attendance. Rogue heard a man joke to  Sting, "Well, at least that's something you don't have to worry about," to which Sting chuckled nervously.

“Here,” Sting shook him gently before grabbing the clipboard from him and handing Kuro over, “The boys seem to be doing better, why don’t you take them back with the others, this is a great opportunity for them to get some socialization in.”

Rogue would usually get irritated when Sting got into pediatrician mode, but this time he was grateful. Attempting to sit still while he was in such turmoil was only driving him crazy. He cuddled both boys as he walked, drawing comfort from their warmth and sweet expressions.

He set them back on their play blanket, opting to stay with them for a few minutes. Wendy had been busy helping a group of little girls with art supplies, but Romeo came and sat with them.

“What’s it like?”

“Hmm?” Rogue peered at him uncomprehendingly.

“Having a baby, what’s it like?” Romeo asked again.

“Oh, it changes your entire life. You can kiss getting a good night’s sleep goodbye, and you have to kind of get used to the idea that you don’t come first anymore, but it’s okay because soon you won’t remember what your life was like before they were there.” Rogue replied with a smile.

Romeo didn't respond, but he knelt down to play with the twins, and with a wrinkle of his nose, he said, "I think this little guy needs a change."

“Oh, I can do that,” Rogue went to get the diaper bag only to find Romeo had already beaten him to it.

“Don’t worry about it, I can probably use the practice,” Romeo waved him away as he grabbed Haku and moved him over to one of the changing areas.

Rogue watched, ready to step in if needed, but Romeo seemed to have it all under control. Wendy returned, waving at him cheerfully as she began to play with Kuro, and Rogue found he had no excuses left to not return to the meeting.

He walked back towards Sting slowly, his mind tackling the problem at hand. Now that the initial shock was somewhat over, did he even want to speak to his brother? Gray had shut him out years ago, even though all he’d been trying to do was be a good brother. He'd abandoned him knowing full well Rogue didn't really have many other people in his life, and now here he was back in Magnolia, still shutting him out. How long had he already been in town?

Rogue was conflicted, the fact that he felt so hurt was a testament to how much he still cared, but he couldn't deny that there was also a lot of anger he’d yet to deal with. He'd almost decided to say fuck it to the whole situation when he noticed Gray's son, his nephew, walking towards the play area, moving slowly as he held on to the backs of the empty chairs he passed.

Rogue stayed where he was, noticing the little boy-Aki, his mind supplied helpfully- had stopped at the last chair and was watching him intently. Aki looked back towards Gray, but the draw of children’s laughter and colorful toys seemed to be more powerful. His eyes darted to the space behind Rogue, where the twins were playing with Wendy.

Rogue could see Gray attempting to stand up from his chair, and it irritated him. Seriously, what did his brother think he was going to do, grab Aki and run? To his amusement, the silver-haired man put his hand on Gray's thigh, forcing him to sit back down, whispering words into his brother's ear that Rogue couldn't hear. Gray looked unhappy by the rebuff, but he remained seated, his gaze following Aki's movements while keeping an eye on Rogue.

Rogue moved out of the way of the entrance, keeping his movements slow and deliberate. Aki surprised him by running past without giving him another look, and Rogue couldn't help but to turn and look to see what had drawn his nephew's attention.

“Hey, Aki!” Wendy greeted cheerfully as the little boy had stopped short of the blanket.

He kneeled and peered at one twin then the other with a puzzled expression. “Same?”

Wendy giggled, “They  _ do _ look the same, don’t they?”

Aki nodded at her and smiled uncertainly.

"They're twins," Wendy smiled as she pointed at the boys, "This is Haku, and the one with the red dragon is Kuro. Would you like to play with us?"

“Yesh.”

“Come on then, just make sure not to take Kuro’s dragon, he doesn’t like it.” Wendy made room for Aki in the large blanket, grabbing a basket filled with small toys and placing it next to him.

Aki found a plastic phone and grabbed it, pushing the buttons and bouncing excitedly when they made sounds. Haku's eyes widened, and he began to bounce and laugh along. 

And it was at that moment that Rogue got his answer. He did want to patch things up with his brother. It didn't matter what their argument had been about, or how much work it would be to fix it. He wanted this for his sons. Sting was an only child, and he only had one brother, their family was small enough as it was. They deserved all of it.

He observed his sons playing with their cousin for a few more minutes before going back to Sting with a smile on his face and a heart full of determination. He would reach out to Gray as soon as he saw an opening.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Home for the Holidays 2019  
Prompt: Limits

_ 6:40 pm - 7:15 pm Members are encouraged to talk about any issues or share successes _

"Alright, that was incredibly uhm, informational?" Gildarts muttered, "Anyway, on to my favorite part. For those of you joining us for the first time, this is the part of the meeting where we talk about what's going on with us. Any issues that we're facing or anything we managed that we're proud of. Keep it to kids/family stuff, I'm looking at you Wakaba, no one needs to hear more about your fights with Millgana.”

"Let's start with the positive things first, does anyone have something good to share?" Macao asked even as he snickered at a man with a pompadour hairdo that Rogue could only assume was Wakaba. 

One of the other dads got up from his seat, smiling widely. He had short dark hair and was wearing a blue t-shirt with the Magnolia Police Department logo. "It's my daughter Asuka's birthday today. She turned six and wanted to celebrate with you guys as well." 

Upon hearing her name, Asuka left the play area and rushed to her father's side, "Is it cupcake time, daddy?" she asked, jumping up and down in excitement. 

"Yes it is," he assured her, still smiling as he patted the top of her head through the cowboy hat she was wearing. He then addressed the rest of the group again, "We made cupcakes together to share with the club. It was a lot of fun, and they turned out great, Asuka even did all the decorating herself!"

They all took a moment to sing Happy Birthday to the excited little girl who beamed at being the center of attention. Father and daughter then retrieved a plastic tray that had been covered with foil from the snack area.

"Are there any more napkins?" the man asked, and Gildarts walked over to where there were still some market bags, quickly grabbing one and handing it to the father. 

"That's great, Alzack!" Macao complimented as father and daughter wandered around the room offering cupcakes, "I think one of the challenges we often face as fathers is allowing ourselves to enjoy activities that are usually associated with women. Baking, tea parties, or playing with dolls, just to name a few. We need to remember these are just another part of our children's development. Giving them affection and support is much more important than any perceived affront to our masculinity."

Hearing Macao mention tea parties, Rogue couldn't help but remember the ones Gildarts and his father had forced on him and Gray when Cana had first shown up. She'd been so quiet and sad when they had first met her, and both men had tried their best to make her smile. To the point of wearing ridiculous outfits while sitting around holding conversations with dolls and holding the little cups from the tea set that had been a present from Rogue's mother in their large hands. 

Rogue chuckled at the memory and searched out his brother, wanting to see if he'd had a similar reaction only to find Gray watching him as well, and for one instant, they shared a smile before Gray looked away.

"I'd love to do stuff like that," a man spoke up, drawing Rogue’s attention to him. Unlike most of the other men there, he was dressed impeccably in a fitted suit, and for some reason, he chose to wear tinted sunglasses inside. His expression was sad as he accepted a cupcake from the little girl, but he still managed to offer her a smile, "Thank you, sweetheart."

"What's going on, Loke?" Gildarts asked, sitting in one of the empty chairs next to him.

"I barely get to see my girls anymore. They're usually asleep by the time I get home during the week, and now my wife has started taking them to her parents' summer house on the weekends." 

“I get that, with my crazy schedule I don’t get as much time as I’d like with the twins, so I try to plan something each week and just kind of grab any moment I can along the way, you know?”

Rogue knew Sting was just trying to be helpful, but something about Loke's body language made him think his situation was very different from theirs.

Gildarts leaned his head towards Loke, and they began speaking in quiet voices, Loke seeming more upset the more they talked.

Rogue looked away, feeling uncomfortable with watching when Loke seemed so unhappy. As his eyes wandered, he couldn't help but notice that his brother's companion was staring at Loke with a rather interesting expression on his face, seeming to Rogue to almost border on dislike. 

Before he had a chance to wonder about it, Alzack and his daughter were standing in front of him and Sting, holding a tray still half-full of cupcakes. The little girl's eyes were hopeful, and Rogue could only gawk at her attempts at decoration. Each cupcake was slathered with pink frosting, a drawing of some kind done in white frosting on the top, although to him it looked like no more than a blob.

"Oh, wow! Those look great!" Sting grinned, always enthusiastic about anything having to do with food, "Can I have more than one?"

“Sting!” Rogue scolded, but the little girl only giggled as she handed his husband two cupcakes.

“You can have one too!” she handed Rogue a cupcake before moving on to the men sitting next

to them.

Rogue ate his cupcake before Sting could beg it off him, he had to admit it was pretty good.

Another man had spoken up about a problem he was having with his teenage son when Rogue heard someone say, “Wouldn’t these have been more useful before you got here?” followed by a chorus of laughs.

Gray’s companion was holding a box of condoms in his hand, and a quick glance at the impish grin on Gildarts’ face and the way he was watching Macao for his reaction made Rogue realize this must have been the object he’d hidden earlier.

Macao, for his part, was frowning at Gildarts with what looked to be long-suffering exasperation, which seemed to be enough to set Gildarts off into a fit of mirth. It almost reminded Rogue of the way his dad would sometimes get when Gildarts was too much for him to handle. And he stopped that thought before it could gain any traction. Of all the hornet's nests that had been stirred that day, his father was the one he couldn't afford to dwell on.

  
  


_ 7:15 pm - 7:30 pm Upcoming events or activities (signups) _

"For now, we are still paper only, so there will be a clipboard available where you can sign up to bring an item or help plan an event. The old club used to do activities like picnics, potluck dinners around the holidays, stuff like that. We'd like to continue the tradition, so if you have any ideas of things you'd like us to try, don't be shy. As soon as Warren finishes, you should be able to just do it from your phone." Macao declared.

“Feel free to send Warren an email to encourage him to hurry up, his email is-” Macao teased as Warren yelled at him to shut up.

“As far as the snacks, we’ve decided to just charge a 500 jewel monthly fee rather than asking people to remember to bring stuff. Please make sure to list any allergies you or your children might have on your membership form. Gildarts and I will just buy snacks before every meeting. Everyone okay with that?”

No one complained, and they soon began discussing different possible activities both with the kids and dads only.

Rogue lost interest in the conversation, his eyes darting more and more to the play area. He observed Aki, hoping he could somehow glean the answers to all of his questions just from the way he acted.

Aki ran back to his father, sporting a bright smile on his face as he climbed back on his lap. Gray

hugged him, kissing his forehead and listening to whatever the little boy was telling him. The silver-haired man smiled at both of them, ruffling Aki's hair, which caused the little boy to frown at him, and it was such a perfect replica of Gray's frown that Rogue had to laugh.

There was a longing in him now to have Aki be a part of their lives and to rekindle the bond he'd once shared with Gray, back when things were simpler. He waited impatiently for the meeting to come to a close so that he could try to approach his brother. If nothing else to let him know he wanted to talk.

_ 7:30pm Cleanup _

“Alright, our time is up. We’d like to thank everyone for coming, we’ll be here again next week. Please take a moment to help us clean up, and make sure to grab your kids on the way out!” Macao announced as Gildarts appeared with a large garbage bag.

The room once again became chaotic as everyone got up to help with the cleanup. Small groups formed blocking Rogue’s view of Gray and his mysterious companion while others cluttered up the play area in search of their kids.

He finally caught a glimpse of them and without even a word of warning to Sting Rogue took off after them. He tried to get through the crowd to get to his brother, but he was stopped by an older man.

"Are you the journalist Macao was telling me about?" he stared up at Rogue, and though he was furious at the interruption, the man's kind smile made it impossible for him to snap at him.

Instead, he took a deep breath and held his hand out for the older man to shake, “Yes, my name is Rogue Eucliffe.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Makarov Dreyar.”

For a man his age- and this short, he had to be under 4 feet tall- Makarov had a firm handshake. Whatever he had to say did not quite reach Rogue’s ears. Instead, he was focusing on overhearing the conversation Gray was having with his companion.

"I told you this would be a waste of time," Gray grumbled as they walked towards the exit, a smiling Aki in his arms.

“I wouldn’t say that. This was just as much for Aki as it was for you, and  _ he _ seems to have enjoyed it immensely. Now, are you going to tell me what your deal is with that guy with the long black hair or what?”

The doors closed behind them, and Rogue felt his frustration grow as Makarov continued to talk to him, asking him questions about his family, which he tried to answer as politely as he could.

"Can you excuse me for just one minute?" Without waiting for a response, Rogue ran out the daycare center exit, down the long hallway and out the community center doors, but he saw no sign of them.

_ Damn it! How was he supposed to find him now? _

With a heavy heart, he hurried back to the daycare center, feeling bad for acting so rudely towards the older man. When he entered, he was surprised to see Sting had already put both boys in the stroller and was talking to Gildarts, million watt smile at the ready.

"Put that away, son, you're liable to blind someone with that thing," Gildarts asserted, looking amused. "I've already told you, I can't give you any private information on any of our members. Would  _ you _ like it if I just gave out the half-pint's number to anyone that asked?"

“But Gray is his brother,” Sting protested, “You know that for a fact.”

"I do, still doesn't change anything," Gildarts shrugged, "Listen, kid, I wish I could help you out, but my hands are tied. Now, if you were to ask me for information on his companion, that would be a different story."

“What?”

" _ He _ gave me business cards and permission to hand them out to anyone who might need one, but you didn't so-" Gildarts turned away, and Rogue wanted nothing more than to throttle him. 

Same old Gildarts, always playing games, never taking anything seriously.

“Give me the damn card, Gildarts,” Rogue growled, not in the mood to play along.

“Half-pint, you came back!”

Rogue rolled his eyes, grabbing the card Gildarts offered him and reading it hungrily. Lyon Vastia, Attorney at Reitei Family Law and a phone number. It wasn't what he'd hoped for, but it was something, a connection to Gray no matter how small.

“You talked to him, what did he say?” Rogue demanded, not even bothering to disguise how important the information was to him.

Gildarts crossed his arms “I’m not saying a word until you start talking. What the hell happened between you two? And don’t you dare say nothing, I’m not stupid. I’ve witnessed sworn enemies act happier to see each other.”

The last thing Rogue wanted to do was to rehash the events of the last six years with Gildarts, especially when he was already riled up. But Gildarts had always known how to push all his buttons and this time was no different. The man had been interrogated countless times by professionals and had never been broken, Rogue knew without a doubt Gildarts would not disclose anything until he came clean.

“Fine,” Rogue accepted the terms, but when he opened his mouth to begin Gildarts stopped him.

“Not here.” Gildarts turned to Sting, flashing him his own million watt smile that had wooed more women than any of them had ever been able to count. “Half-Pint’s coming with me to FairyTail, assuming he’s honest with me he shouldn’t be home too late.”

Sting looked like he wanted to protest but one look at Rogue’s face was enough to silence him. Instead, he gave him a quick hug and whispered, “Good luck, I’ll see you when you get home.” 

Home. Rogue held on to that word, it had been an empty one for so long, until Sting had come along and given it meaning again. No matter what came of his talk with Gildarts, knowing that he had a home to return to that was full of love and family gave him the strength to suffer through whatever the rest of the night had in store for him.

~~~

“That bastard!” Rogue ranted the second he made it through the door.

Sting shushed him, pointing at the door to the twins’ room. “How much did you have to drink?”

Rogue blinked, trying to remember how many drinks Gildarts had shoved at him as they talked. He shrugged in response, he had no idea.

Sting snatched the baby monitor and the glass of wine he’d been drinking, leaving the other he’d obviously poured for Rogue behind. Grabbing him by the arm he gently led him outside, sitting both of them on the bench swing in their backyard.

“What happened?” Sting pushed his feet against the ground, rocking the swing back and forth slowly.

“I must have talked for hours, I told him everything and-” Rogue was once again filled with rage, “He didn’t know anything, said he tried to get Gray to talk to him but failed.”

Rogue wanted to scream, he felt like such an idiot. How was it that even after all these years Gildarts could still turn him into an insecure child? Gray would never have fallen for that.

He could feel Sting’s eyes on him, even worse he could see the way he was trying hard not to laugh at him.

“That guy is something else,” Sting chuckled with something akin to admiration, “Let me ask you this, outside of the anger you’re obviously experiencing, do you feel any better?”

“What?”

“You heard me, you’ve been holding on to a lot of that stuff for years, I know it’s been eating away at you. He might have been a dick, but he got you to talk about all of it, which is something you desperately needed.”

Rogue had done more than that. Gildarts had always been a man of action. Given all the things he’d come to learn about there was no way he would be willing to stand on the sidelines while people he considered family were floundering about.

No, Rogue thought as he remembered how furious Gildarts had seemed upon hearing the events that had transpired while he’d been handling his own issues. He had unleashed Gildarts on all of them and with a sadistic grin, considering everything he’d gone through on his own, he realized he wasn’t one bit sorry.

He laughed until tears streamed down his cheeks, the alcohol feeding into his hysteria, causing Sting to gaze at him with concern once again. 

“You’re right, it’s going be fine,” Rogue finally replied, wiping the tears from his eyes. He waited for Sting to put his glass down and snuggled into him, reveling in his warmth. They swung together for what felt like a long time, enjoying the silence after the chaos of the long evening. 

Things were likely to get interesting in the coming weeks but for right now Rogue was at peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading, but as you may have guessed, this story isn't quite over yet! We will continue in a sequel called 'Brothers', that's coming soon! :)


End file.
